In the Arms of Morpheus
by sannedwich
Summary: A great love can often be regarded as arduous, forbidden or blatantly wrong; as is the love between student!Elsa and professor!Anna. This is the story of their lives, their struggles and most of all, their love. Frozen AU - non-incest Elsanna - Elsa/Anna
1. Prologue

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Prologue**

* * *

_Falling for someone IS dreaming. It's an illusion brought on by hormones and chemicals and it's something we are programmed to do. If we are lucky, it's a shared hallucination, but even then it can be a nightmare. Romance is building a dream of a future. Actually attaining that dream is... an act of creation.  
_

* * *

"What you then get are two carbon atoms, which oxidize to carbon dioxide. The energy produced by the process is then transferred to other metabolic processes."

A short pause in which the class hasted to keep up with their notes, scribbling away on paper or typing on their laptops, keyboards clacking. The monotonous, dictatorial ticks of the wall clock droned through the spacious room like a sad and moribund heartbeat. While the sun menacingly blast its rays through the gross, blotchy windows, all students seemed to ignore the beautiful weather and would rather sweat over their lecture. A particular blonde-haired girl, however, sat with a blank, unopened note book in front of her, absentmindedly tapping the back end of her pen on the spiralled spine.

"This is so fucking stupid," the girl murmured to a classmate, who chuckled in response. The comment however, further landed on deaf ears. The whole classroom was too engulfed in the lecture, including the professor, who was calmly drawing all kinds of intricate schematics on the whiteboard.

Frowning, the rebellious girl tried again, voice louder this time, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I heard you the first time, Elsa. Mind your language."

Rolling her eyes, the blonde crossed her arms in front of her chest, eyebrows dipping down over her dark-lashed eyes. She quietly slumped back in her chair, throwing her pen down in defiance. Honestly, she was quite upset with herself – because really, what was she expecting?

Elsa began to roll her ballpoint back and forth on the cover of her note book, not really paying attention to the teacher, nor the lecture. As the seconds on the clock steadily drummed on, the blonde tried to waste some time by observing birds in a nearby tree and pondering whether or not it was worth jumping out the window.

Even though she really liked biology - which was the sole reason she was in the hot, smelly and crowded classroom in the first place, Elsa couldn't find the willpower to listen to a single word being said. She zoned out time and time again and then either found herself blatantly staring at her teacher until her eyes burned or making rude, snarky, unnecessary comments. It's one thing to be bored and just not pay attention, but this was something that frustrated Elsa.

It frustrated her that she couldn't focus on anything but the redheaded professor in front of the class as soon as she strode into the room each time, and that she couldn't overpower the pubescent urge to ask for attention when she felt that she was lacking it, resulting in her disrupting the lecture on way or another.

"I have a question," Elsa blurted out, trying to put a halt to her own stupid thoughts.

"You should raise your hand if you do. Now, as I was saying, the citric acid cycle is part of the oxidative - yes, Elsa?"

Lips curling into a smug smile, Elsa dropped her hand back to her table, not managing to stop the question from slipping past her lips, resulting in a slightly cracked and unconvincing voice as she uttered her question, "Does citric acid taste sour?"

_Fuck, you idiot._

A collective laugh ran through the body of students while the blonde girl just looked like she was about to punch herself square in the face. _What the fuck.  
_  
"I-I wouldn't know. Now, would you please focus on the actual lesson?"

Not wanting to embarrass herself any more, Elsa practically glued her lips together and slouched back into her chair, staring at a particularly interesting speck of dust on the table whilst thinking that jumping out of the window might actually not that bad of an idea. Deep creases lined her forehead as the blonde was lost in thought, once again completely missing so much as the general jest of the lecture. Valuable information about the citric acid cycle and how it formed energy in the body went in one ear and breezed out the other.

Elsa picked up her ballpoint and started to randomly doodle all kinds of figures on the cover of her note book, just to give her hands and mind something to do. Every now and then, she'd watch the shadows grow longer and longer as time passed by, dipping the class in a dark and distorted divide.

Sooner than expected, the slow hands of the clock approached the end-time for the lecture and the class grew impatient, ready to burst from their seats.

"That was all for today - please don't forget to submit your papers to me by the end of Thursday, alright?" the professor reminded her students, having to yell over the buzz of scraping chairs and instantaneous laughter that always occurred as soon as the clock had struck past the final minute of her lesson, "Alright. Class dismissed," she added, returning to her desk as the first few eager students burst out the door. The redhead returned to her seat, absentmindedly going through some papers.

"Elsa, you stay. I need to talk to you for a minute."

The girl in question groaned loudly, deliberately dropping her books back on the table with an enormous slam. She plopped down in her seat, propping her feet up on the chair in front of her, icy blue gaze boring a hole into the whiteboard opposite of her – if she tried hard enough she might burn her way out.

Elsa tried to ignore the nagging in her stomach as the teacher positioned herself on table in front of her. She presented the blonde with a piece of paper, that, on closer examination, had a big, red _4.3_ scribbled angrily in the upper right corner. _Shit._

"I expected more of you, to be honest. When you applied for this course, you were the only one with a good motivation that also resembled my own passion for biology. Why are you failing it now?" the redhead began, pushing her glasses off and into her hair and rubbing the bridge of her nose. Elsa, who was leaning back in her chair nearly fell off. Managing to stabilize herself in time, she cursed under her breath.

Bringing her chair back on four secure legs, she flushed red. Realizing she had to answer her teacher eventually, she ran a haphazard hand through her blonde locks, trying to avoid eye contact and pressing her lips together in a hard, thin line to prevent any more atrocious things to slip past them.

This wrought a frustrated sigh from the professor, "I don't get what you're trying to accomplish with this. Did I do something to offend you?"

_No, it's me who's being the big, ugly meanie_, Elsa thought; yet she remained silent.

The redheaded woman returned her glasses to her eyes, "Okay. I can see that this is getting nowhere. So this is what we're going to do. I'm going to put you in my extra chemiosmosis and bioenergetics class. Now, I don't want any excuses," she said, effectively silencing a ready-to-protest Elsa, "This is for your own good."

"Right. I fail to see how this will benefit me in any way," Elsa sneered.

"You're a good student. You were, at least, and I know you still are. I don't want you to fail my class and have to re-do the entire year."

She leaned in, hands resting on Elsa's desk, concerned and genuine eyes looking into those of the blonde. Elsa swallowed hard, too proud to give into her reflex to jerk her head back or cast down her gaze. Every nerve in her body screamed to bolt out of the classroom and she felt her face heating up, "Okay?" her professor asked sweetly, reducing Elsa's legs to jelly to the point where she didn't know if she could walk away at all.

"Fine," the blonde girl muttered, scrambling to gather her belongings. The pressure in the room was suffocating her, pushing her out, "Whatever."

Just barely being able to sling her bag over her shoulder, Elsa bashed the door open with her hand, ignoring the stinging pain in her wrist as she briskly stomped through the hallway, pushing her way past anyone who would so much as look at her because any extra spark of anger would make her change her mind.

* * *

_Howdy hey! Here is the prologue-ish thing for my very first Frozen AU fic. I've posted a sort of rough draft of this as the last chapter of my Seven Days of Elsanna, and a lot of you liked it and wanted to see it become a full-fletched fic. So here we go!_

_Let me know what you guys think, okay? I haven't written in forever so it's going to be a bumpy ride. Bear with me through it all. Also, rated M because of swearing and for all future chapters (SMUT HAHAHAHAHAHHEHEHE - ahem. Sorry)._


	2. Miss Andersen

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Miss Andersen**

* * *

Arendelle University was one of the more prestigious colleges around – established over more than a hundred years ago, the university had built up quite the reputation. Its white, aged stone walls held conversations from histories long ago and knowledge spread amongst students in time.

It wasn't a particularly big university, but what it lacked in size it made up for in specialties. Offering majors and bachelors ranging from geography, archaeology, cultural anthropology, philosophy and biology – plus all their subsets, Arendelle University was more than most students could ever wish for.

All Elsa could however think about as she walked through the still-empty hallway was how much she loathed this school.

Every name plate on the matted glass doors gave her names she did not recognize, but she still hated the teachers with a passion; every step down the tiled corridor tugged her eyebrows deeper down over her eyes, casting shadows over her face while prying eyes scorched the faces of the very few people that would encounter her.

_It is 8:30 AM. This is way too early, _the blonde thought, re-hoisting her bag over her shoulder. The prospect of biology this early in the morning didn't appeal to her much, too; she'd much rather still be in her warm, comfy bed, covered in worriless warmth and engulfed in nothing but good dreams. Though good dreams weren't really on Elsa side last night – strange and anxious scenes of chemiosmosis and big red numbers had swallowed up her nightly consciousness.

Elsa found it strange that the low grade and the talk with her professor had seemingly affected her so much, to the point where her mind would project it into her dreams. She used to not care about classes. Yet here she was, in the morning, heading to her extra tutoring. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

She shrugged away the thought as she arrived at the classroom; the shiny silver number plate next to it staring down at her mockingly.

Opening the door without thinking twice about knocking, Elsa stumbled in on her professor quietly reading a book in the upcoming sunshine. Her hands were tucked underneath the cover of the novel, soft blue eyes grazing the pages in a slow pace and a languid smile gracing her lips.

As she was watching the scene, Elsa felt a rush of serenity enter her usually chaotic brain. Her hand lingered on the doorknob as she gave herself a moment to relax, her eyes practically glued to the peaceful scene in front of her. It felt rather creepy to just stand there, however, and Elsa quickly regained control.

"U-um," the blonde coughed, feeling immensely intrusive, "good morning?"

The teacher visibly started, hands resolutely clapping the book shut. She turned around to look at who was coming through the door and her posture relaxed when her eyes came to a rest on Elsa's somewhat bashful, somewhat annoyed face, "Oh, good morning. Please, take a seat, I was waiting for you."

Elsa shuffled over to a table, deliberately dragging the chair back with a deafening scrape that pierced the early morning serenity. She dropped her bag on the floor and took some time to bend down and fish out the according books. She had thought about not taking them with her. To just sit here, not even a pen in her possession and to just pretend like it wasn't her fault. She had thought about not coming at all as well, because God knows she didn't give two shits about anything in this course. Still, somehow, the better judgement that was buried deep inside her had urged her to go. _Really though, what is wrong with me?_

She slid her books onto the table, opened her notebook with a deep, hard sigh and looked up at her teacher, "Go wild. Be quick, I might fall back asleep."

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd show up – but I just want to say that I'm glad you did."

Elsa huffed, her arms defensively locking into place in front of her chest as she bit the inside of her cheek, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Just get on with it."

The redheaded young woman picked up her notes and started reciting all kinds of information about atoms, energy and mitochondria. Picking up her pen with relative disgust and reluctance, Elsa scribbled down the date and began to write along with the lecture.

She had written about five or six sentences and half a diagram before the receptive nerves in her brain just felt like disconnecting. Elsa's eyelids were drooping as she tried to fight off the heavy slumber that assaulted her; the sounds of the wind whirring through the trees, the steady murmur of her professor's voice and the squeak of a marker on a whiteboard became blurred and vague and she found herself staring at the back of her teacher's head with intervals of blacked-out sleep.

_God damn, I wasn't even this tired when I woke up this morning._

She managed to keep her eyes open for approximately three seconds or so if she tried really, really hard to not fall asleep, and the blonde cursed under her breath as she found herself nodding off when she could swear she was listening intently a moment ago.

Growing irritated, Elsa tried focusing on random objects in the room to fight off the drowsiness. Her icy blue eyes flitted back and forth, brow furrowed deeply as she did so. _Pen. Desk. Prof's table. Whiteboard. Clock which I swear hasn't moved at all in the last few minutes. Wall poster. Documents. Name plate… wait._

"Miss… Andersen?"

The squeaking stopped for a moment as her professor turned around, a questioning gaze on her face, "Yes?"

"No, I mean, that's your name?" Elsa clarified, sleep-drunken eyes trying to focus on the woman in front of her.

"Elsa, I have been your professor for over two months; how did you only now find out my last name?" she said, the disbelief dripping from voice as she laughed – a laugh that sounded like a wind chime in a spring breeze, "Are you for real?"

Cocking back her chair to lean on the table behind her, the blonde-haired girl frowned and shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear nonchalantly, "Well if you haven't noticed, _miss Andersen_, I haven't been paying that much attention lately. It's a cool name though."

A flash of colour flooded onto the redhead's cheeks as she gave Elsa a soft smile, "Thank you, I guess. Shall we continue?"

* * *

"I really can't do this anymore. I need a goddamn coffee," the blonde groaned, head resting on her note book which was becoming surprisingly full. Her eyes prickled and stung as she momentarily closed them, the cold darkness feeling like heaven on Earth, "Can I go get a coffee?"

"I don't know, can you?"

Groaning harder, Elsa lifted her head back up from her notes to glare at miss Andersen, deciding that this was the exact reason why she didn't like classes. Miss Andersen was lucky that her course had been the one she had been sporadically attending, otherwise Elsa would have dropped out for sure. No doubt about it.

Realizing she probably couldn't win this by staring her professor down, Elsa rolled her eyes and asked again: "_May_ I go get a coffee?"

The blonde burst from her seat as soon as the redhead had given her an affirmative, practically storming through the door, haphazardly checking her back pockets for some change. There was something about classrooms that gave her a form of claustrophobia or something – even though the windows had been open, the pressure in the air always built up so uncomfortably, sitting on her chest like an iron weight. _Why again are these tutorings like three hours long?_

Walking more slowly now that her lungs could breathe relatively fresh air, Elsa tucked her hands in her pockets and wandered through the hallway. She couldn't find a lot of places in the building because of her low attendance, but the coffee machines were a spot that practically had her name labelled on.

As she punched in her preferred coffee blend and pushed coins down the slot, she had a moment to reflect on the past hour. The extra lesson hadn't been _as _bad as she had first expected it to be – but it wasn't something Elsa would gladly wake up for. Still, miss Andersen had proven to be a good tutor, and Elsa liked the fact that she had seemed to adopt a different form of instruction when tutoring her only. She was kinder and slower in explanation when the blonde struggled to understand. For as far as Elsa was concerned, her professor was actually a really good teacher; Elsa was just never there to notice it. Or rather, she was never _mentally _there.

Not that she'd been following the entirety of the lecture this time, but it was significantly more than ever.

Steaming hot coffee poured out of the machine and Elsa's thoughts skidded to a slow halt. Her fingers enclosed around the warm plastic cup and only then did she realize that writing so much had chilled her hands down a lot. She put the cup to her lips, puffs of steam tickling her nose as she took a sip.

After downing half of the cup's contents, the blonde became painfully aware of the fact that she should get back to the classroom. With lead in her shoes, she sauntered her way back, taking her coffee with her for moral support. The number plate on the wall seemed even more menacing this time around.

Elsa plopped down on her seat, grunting something inaudible to signal her returning presence to the professor.

The latter put down her book – the same she'd been reading this morning (Elsa had tried to take a peek at the title or the writer, but it had either been too far away or simply completely out of view), and got up, pushing her glasses up her nose a bit more, "We have about one and a half hour left to cover, are you ready to go on?" she asked, whiteboard marker at the ready in her small hands.

Elsa laughed humourlessly, "Well, no, but I guess I have no choice."

The redhead blinked confusedly for a few seconds, and Elsa noted in her expression that her professor wasn't sure whether to be insulted at the comment or to laugh about it. Elsa smirked, putting her feet on the chair in front of her, "Or can I leave if I ask nicely?"

Without missing a beat, miss Andersen smirked right back at her student and uncapped the marker she was holding, "I don't know, can you?"

_Jesus Christ, does she think she's funny or something?_ Elsa sighed loudly, smashing her hand down on her pen as she provocatively picked it up. She breathed out hard through her nose, feeling the anger at being defeated at her own game course through her veins, "Fine. You win this round, Andersen."

* * *

_Ask, and thou shalt receive. Yes, I'm moving forward slowly but good things come to those who wait, no?  
_


	3. Guilt

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Guilt**

* * *

Elsa was more than glad that her tutoring the next day wasn't set so early in the morning, giving her plenty of time to sleep in. This, however, had proven to have quite the adverse effect. As she walked through the university supressing a yawn, she felt even sleepier than yesterday. And that double espresso shot didn't work, either.

Swirling around the contents of her regular coffee in her cup, she absentmindedly noted that maybe it was time to invest in a travel mug.

_I'm not that hipster, for God's sake._

The blonde strolled around, seeing the sun play shadows on the floor and the walls as the summer breeze shook the branches of trees, trying her best to stretch time and move as slowly as possible towards the room that was already becoming way too familiar.

Upon finally entering said classroom, miss Andersen's voice immediately boomed through her head and Elsa felt a headache coming up.

"Good morning, Elsa. Go sit down and get your stuff ready, I'll be with you in a few minutes."

Mumbling something similar back to the redhead, Elsa plonked down on the nearest seat. It was only when she had piled her books on the desk that she looked up and noticed that her professor had gone. She pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes, regretting ever staying in bed for so long.

Elsa slouched back in her chair after unzipping her sweater and draping it over the back of the chair for a slightly more comfortable seat. Lazily tapping her pen on the edge of the table, her eyes slowly scanned the room – she never really did pay attention to the decorations or design of the classroom. It was a fairly small room, but that didn't matter regarding the relatively few students that took this course; Elsa guessed there were about twenty people in total.

Then again, she could be wrong. When was the last time she paid attention, anyway?

Looking around at the walls, the blonde noticed that miss Andersen had put in a lot of effort into putting up posters and the like. There was of course a massive must-have poster of the periodic table and a couple of different charts depicting cells; but beside the normal, educational stuff Elsa could feel a personal vibe, too.

There were several posters with supposedly funny phrases about biology, something framed which Elsa reckoned to be the teacher's bachelor's or master's degree. On the teacher's desk stood a few books and a small statuette of a deer or an elk, or something like that.

It was cute, sort of adorable and almost childlike and it reminded Elsa of middle school – yet it suited miss Andersen. She was still young and enthusiastic, and she seemed to be the kind of person to project a lot of herself onto her environment.

"Are you all set up and ready?" the professor's voice shook Elsa awake from her musings as she returned to the classroom.

"You bet," Elsa grinned, downing the last gulp of coffee from her to-go cup.

"So, did you have any difficulties with the exercises?"

_Wait, what?_ "… I'm sorry?"

"The exercises, Elsa," miss Andersen repeated, taking off her glasses and pushing them into her hair. She positioned herself in front of her student's table and looked at her mischievously, one hand on her hip and the other on the wood of the desk, "The ones I sent to you by e-mail. The ones you should've done for today."

The blonde leaned back in her chair, tipping it over on two legs, "Right. _Those_ exercises. I didn't do them."

Miss Andersen's eyebrows dipped down over her eyes and she cocked her head to the side, "Elsa. Didn't we already talk about this? You're here beca-"

"Yeah, I'm here because I didn't do shit and because I'm getting low grades. I get it," Elsa chimed in, interrupting her professor in mid-sentence, "That doesn't change the fact that I still don't do shit, so yes, I didn't do my exercises. You should've anticipated this, really."

Elsa watched the peaceful expression in her teachers eyes change to irritation with glee. As she was leaning back in her chair, she had to repress the smug grin that was itching to crawl onto her lips – but down in the pit of her stomach, she also felt something unidentifiable. Something heavy, tugging down. Mentally cursing herself for being such a dickhead, Elsa put her chair back on four legs, wanting to apologize but not finding the willpower to actually say it.

Fury raced through her being, slowly boiling her blood as she stared down miss Andersen, her dark eyebrows knitting together above her eyes.

_You're a fucking asshole, do you know that?_

The blonde kept looking into her teacher's eyes, almost piercing through them. Her heart beat frantically in her chest, and she couldn't quite discern why exactly. But when miss Andersen's expression changed from frustration into hurt as she turned away to the whiteboard, Elsa felt her pulse sink like an anchor.

_Giant asshole._

"Let's just carry on, Elsa. Try to pay attention."

"Ouch," Elsa sneered, competing with the harshness in her professor's voice, "yes _ma'am_."

The redhead decided to ignore her student's comment as she briskly started writing down information, her marker landing on the surface harder than necessary. Elsa didn't feel particularly proud of herself and had to resist the urge to mimic the slams on the whiteboard with her own pen and paper.

She mumbled something under her breath, exhaling deeply in an attempt to flush out all the resentment that had built up so quickly for no particular reason. Because what had her professor done wrong, realistically speaking? Calling Elsa out on her faults and mistakes was part of her job.

Elsa bit down hard on her bottom lip, managing to calm herself down enough to half-heartedly follow the lecture. _Giant, gaint asshole._

As miss Andersen rattled on about cellular respiration and electrochemical gradients – terms which Elsa had never heard of in her life, and therefore hasted to keep up, the red-haired professor seemed to relax. Her voice was soon void of the edge of anger and annoyance and she continued the lesson calmly and kindly. Elsa, however, had chewed off as what felt like most of the inside of her cheek in the meanwhile.

The heavy, tugging feeling from before had re-entered and had positioned itself in the pit of her stomach, occasionally floating up to rest forcibly upon her chest; the blonde had also finally identified it. _Guilt_. And it wasn't that Elsa had never felt guilty before in her entire life. She had often felt guilty for a lot of things in the past, probably so many times that she couldn't even name them all. It was just that she'd stopped caring for bugger-all ever since her junior year in high school.

Elsa squinted at the redhead in front of the classroom. How was miss Andersen suddenly making her _feel_ things?

* * *

_I'm sorry, I know it's really short. But making it longer would've been just me sputtering nonsense. So here. Also, my sister is working on a neat cover image for this story __so it won't have my face snuggling a cat on it anymore._ It will be done once she gets her laptop fixed. REJOICEMENT.


	4. Tea Person

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Tea Person**

* * *

"You understand now that ATP is biochemical energy converted from nutrients?"

Elsa scribbled something down, grunting out an answer, "Yeah, I guess. What are nutrients again? I haven't written it down."

"Carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and so on. More simply said, nutrients are an array of components that humans, as an organism, need to survive, mostly because they are not synthesized within the body itself but rather have to be obtained from external sources. Like food."

"Right."

"Do you also get that in order to generate ATP, oxygen is required even though nutrients like carbohydrates can be processed as reactants?"

More scribbling and more sighs and groans of frustration. Elsa's pen couldn't move across the page fast enough. At first she thought she'd remember things without having to write them down, but she soon found out that that was a big mistake – now having to make up for it by penning down everything she though she already had remembered but actually failed to do so. Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose, her head doing an absolute shit job at keeping up with all the information that accumulated in there so quickly. It probably was really easy once the blonde would take a good look at it, but right now her mind was about to ready to explode.

Yet her professor was far from being done, "It requires oxygen because the glucose in certain nutrients have a tendency to start the process of glycolysis inside the mitochondrion. And, as we know, the mitochondrion is aerobic, which is why it needs oxygen."

"Can we just- take a quick break?" Elsa asked, interrupting the lecture, "I need some fresh air. And maybe a painkiller or two… or six."

"It's only been an hour. Your break isn't until half past ten."

The blonde put down her pen and mustered up the best whiney voice she had in her, "Aw, please?"

"The answer is no. You're not going to get better at any of this," said the teacher, pausing while she gestured at the whiteboard which was full of text, notes and all kinds of schematics and charts, "if you keep asking for breaks every fifteen minutes." She used one hand to lean on her table and the other to push her glasses into her hairline, causing wisps of strawberry blonde hair to stand up like antennae. "I get that it's difficult, but at least make an effort."

"I know, I'm stupid," Elsa retorted, flinging her hands in the air in a burst of frustration, "But it's not working like this either. I'm not taking in anything you're trying to explain right now so I might as well take a few minutes to regain focus."

"I never said you're stupid, Elsa," miss Andersen said gently, her forehead creasing in concern as she put her glasses on her nose. She sat down at her desk and looked at the blonde in front of her for a moment before grabbing up some papers and reading through the messy stack with flitting blue eyes, "Be back in ten, alright?"

Dumbfounded, Elsa opened her mouth to retort, not quite expecting this little resistance. So she shut it quickly, teeth clacking together with the snap of her jaw.

_At least say thank you. What are you, heartless?_

As the blonde-haired girl slowly made her way towards the door, she just barely muttered a small "thanks" as she exited the room.

_Oh yeah, that was great, I'm sure she heard the genuine appreciation in your voice._

Elsa slammed her fist into the side of the coffee machine once she got there, starting a group of students nearby. They shot glances at her like she was crazy and for a moment, Elsa didn't even blame them. What the hell was she thinking? It wasn't miss Andersen's fault that she failed this class. Why get angry at her?

It had been her own dumb doing, really. The need to constantly annoy and upset her teacher had re-surfaced - or rather, it had never left in the first place.

There had been moments in life where Elsa thought she might have some kind of attention disorder, or something else to cause this need to do these things. She had often hoped it would pass with puberty and all of that hormonal nonsense, but no, it seemed to have grown stronger more than anything. Elsa had gotten quite used to it, but miss Andersen was the pinnacle of her troubles with attention. Never before had the blonde experienced such strong urges, and never has she felt more stupid.

Yet Elsa still didn't know why. She couldn't figure out why miss Andersen had such a big impact on her, and why she frustrated her so much and vice versa.

The beep of the coffee machine ripped Elsa from her thoughts. Looking at the black block of electronics, she wondered if she should bring something for her professor. She'd never considered to do something like that, but she saw it as some sort of peace offering.

Elsa bit her lower lip. She didn't even know if miss Andersen liked coffee. Maybe she liked hot chocolate. _No,_ s_he seems more of a tea person._

A slightly trembling, reluctant finger pressed the touch screen of the machine, buzzing it to life as it began to pour out steaming hot tea. Elsa wriggled another cup out of the holder and shoved the first cup in it, the boiling beverage nearly searing her fingers off through the plastic. The ten minutes given to the blonde weren't over yet at all, but Elsa felt rather awkward just standing there with two drinks on her own – also, it would be rude to give miss Andersen cold tea.

Trudging back to the classroom, Elsa tried to chew off what had been remaining of the inside of her cheek. Coming back as coolly and reserved as possible as if nothing had happened wasn't one of her strongest points. And now she was bringing drinks, as well.

_What am I becoming, a butler? Jeesh._

Elsa put the cup on miss Andersen's table with more force than she intended, resulting in some of the liquid sloshing over the side. It did, however, signal her return.

The redhead turned around to see the steaming cup of tea standing clumsily on her desk. She frowned, looking at it like it had arrived per spaceship. Picking it up and looking back at her student, "Is that... for me?"

"Yeah, whatever," Elsa said, plopping down on her seat and casting her eyes down, "Consider it a random act of kindness."

The blonde wasn't looking at miss Andersen but she could practically feel her beaming, "Thank you."

Blowing a lost lock of hair back in place, Elsa ignored the traces of a blush that started to make its tingly way up her cheeks.

* * *

"Don't forget to study for your test on Monday, alright? I'll forward you some summaries and useful websites."

Elsa's eyebrows knitted together over her eyes as she glanced at her professor – all honesty and kindness on her face and again Elsa felt a pang of guilt in her stomach for treating her so badly. She bit her lip as she zipped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "Yeah. Thanks, miss Andersen. I- I mean… really. I appreciate it."

"I know, Elsa," the redhead said, her lips curling up into the sweetest, shyest smile Elsa had ever seen in her life. The pang of guilt quickly turned into a big lump that settled in her throat and Elsa asked herself how she could have ever been so harsh towards this pure bundle of good-natured spirit. She swallowed a couple of times, fingers nervously fumbling with the hem of her shirt as she stood there looking into miss Andersen's eyes.

Realizing her awkward, statuesque behaviour, Elsa murmured something incomprehensible and quickly made her exit, stumbling over her own feet as she was trying to figure out why she felt so goddamn giddy.

* * *

_Sorry for my tardy update – I had quite a bit of a stressful period at university. Like I said, I haven't written a multi-chapter fic in ages so I'm rusty. Also, I'm sorry for the monotonous scenery in the fic so far. It's gonna change next update, don't worry. LOVIN' all of your support and feedback, though. Makes me feel good._

_I already regret naming the chapters because I suck at it. Oh well._


	5. Beers and Ashtrays

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Beers and Ashtrays**

* * *

Speakers blaring some Ke$ha song through the establishment, the clinking of glasses and the loud bawling of young men who are just a bit too tipsy. Greasy windows that overlooked a street packed with people, laughter, and the smell of cigarettes, perfume, hard liquor and cheap beers in the air.

_Just how I like my Sunday nights._

Elsa sat at the bar, a nearly empty glass of beer in front of her, and about three more of them already re-conquered by the bartenders. She was chatting with some random guy next to her, a man maybe twice her age with a stubbly beard and a biker jacket. He was roaring with laughter as Elsa recited some of her best jokes.

She'd spent quite a bit of time with this semi-stranger after sitting down next to him. He had greeted her and at first Elsa didn't pay much attention to him - she just wanted a drink, really. But then again, where was the fun in that? If she just wanted a drink she could simply go to the liquor store and drink it at home.

"I like you, kid. D'you want another beer?"

"Sure," the blonde said with a smile, downing the remainder of her previous drink.

If Elsa were the person to have a favourite pub, this place would be it. It was just five minutes away from her apartment, and she frequented a lot. Busy clubs with drunk, hormonal teenagers grinding against her behind didn't quite have the appeal that this homely, more reserved café had.

"You're not really flirting with that guy, are you? He doesn't really look like your type."

Elsa frowned, turning to the source of the voice. Beside her stood a tall, black-haired girl; one hand on a cocked hip and the other on the bar clutching a drink. She emitted an air of nonchalance and confidence as she lifted one sharply curved eyebrow, brown eyes quickly flitting up and down Elsa's figure.

The blonde casually put down her beer and shifted in her chair, "And you know what my type is because?"

"I'm everyone's type," said the woman without missing a beat, a crooked grin crawling up her lips. She gave Elsa a wink, "So, do you come here often?"

_Gross. _"Yeah, I guess. At least every weekend."

"How come I never saw you before, then?"

Elsa shrugged, staring blankly at the girl in front of her, "I don't really like to be recognized a lot."

A few seconds of silence passed, which felt like minutes. Very awkward minutes. The blonde started to feel self-conscious as the stranger kept looking at her so slyly and began to pick at a coaster lying on the bar. This only seemed to amuse the black-haired woman even more, and Elsa quickly threw the coaster down again.

"What, cat's got your tongue? Are you ever gonna tell me what your name is, cutie?"

_Super gross. _"Elsa."

"I'm Jasmine. Can I get you a drink?"

"Looks like I'm all set," Elsa replied, smirking as the bartender just put down another beer in front of her.

She took a big gulp out of the glass, thinking that she needed to be inebriated way more to deal with this girl. Elsa watched her climb on the bar stool next to her from the corner of her eye and sighed inwardly. Sure, Jasmine seemed like a nice enough girl, but Elsa wasn't in the mood to hit on anyone. To be fair, she was actually really pretty; her curly hair was flowing down her back like a black sea, a shiny silver piercing peeking out beneath the waves. Her brown eyes were deep and intense, her cheeks dimpled as she smiled at the bartender and her eyeliner was so sharp it could kill a man.

Jasmine received her drink and raised her glass slightly to clink it against Elsa's, "Cheers, then."

After that attempt at a weird celebratory toast, the interrogation began. Jasmine started casually firing off questions at Elsa, and the latter had to try hard not to roll her eyes every now and then. She caught herself almost mechanically replying to what were genuine interests from Jasmine, and a pang of guilt hit her. Elsa noted that she should also probably talk a bit more, and ask the black-haired girl some questions herself.

Two beers and a shot of tequila later and Jasmine was unstoppable.

She had her hand on Elsa's thigh and Elsa pretended not to see the flirty look in the girl's eyes – which was a hard task. The warmth on her thigh distracted Elsa way too much to say anything about it, and really, she was too intoxicated to care.

"I've gotta go take a smoke, wanna join me?" Jasmine asked, pointing her thumb into the direction of the smoker's room.

"Why not."

Elsa followed the black-haired girl on wobbly legs, refusing the cigarette that was offered to her. She watched Jasmine light hers, the red at the end of the cigarette lighting up whenever she took a puff.

"You don't smoke?" the young woman asked in between blowing out clouds of smoke.

"No. I think it's gross," Elsa said, positioning herself in front of Jasmine, "Especially when you kiss someone. Who wants to stick their tongue in an ashtray?"

"I know some people," Jasmine grinned, taking a last breath of her daily nicotine before throwing it on the ground and squashing it with her shoe. Brown eyes flickered up hungrily at Elsa's, and the black-haired girl slowly closed in on the blonde. Elsa's breath hitched in her throat as Jasmine leant in, taking a step back out of reflex. That, however, didn't stop Jasmine; she grabbed Elsa by the hips and pulled her back swiftly. The roughness of their bodies slamming into one another sent Elsa's inebriated mind reeling. One hand travelled up to her face and locked itself around her neck – Elsa felt her hot breath tickling her lips, and licked them involuntarily.

This was the green light for Jasmine – Elsa gasped as the black-haired woman swiftly closed the distance between them and, quite forcefully, mushed their mouths together. Her lips were warm and wet and they tasted of alcohol and cigarettes.

Elsa's heart started to beat wildly in her chest and for a second she kissed back hard, earning a set of nails digging in her clothes. But then she felt her stomach knot together unpleasantly and a sense of panic began to drown out all she felt and made her break the kiss.

"I'm… I'm sorry. You're really nice and _really_ hot, but I- I should go," stammered Elsa, pushing herself off of Jasmine.

The latter looked slightly hurt, but regained her composure, starting to twirl a lock of the blonde's hair around her finger, "Why? We're having such a good time."

"Yes, I know – I just n-need to leave," Elsa replied, trying to repress the light-headedness that dropped over her like a cloud. She scrambled to get her coat, waved her temporary friend at the bar farewell and stormed through the door, leaving a stunned Jasmine behind.

Fresh summer air swept Elsa's hair up as she stormed into the street, taking a direct right turn, eyes set on her apartment in the distance.

_What the fuck._

The kiss was already becoming a mere blurred memory in her mind due to the alcohol consumption. Elsa's mind turned foggy, but she could still feel her airways tighten as she recalled Jasmine's lips on hers – had she been such a bad kisser?

Elsa had finished the five minute walk home in two minutes and stared at her door for a moment before realizing it was her apartment.

It took two or three tries to successfully jam the key into the lock and turn it the right way around. Elsa stumbled up to her bed, turning on a single light to make sure she didn't bump into her belongings. Ditching her clothes, she found herself in the bathroom, surprisingly having remembered to brush her teeth. She took her watch and bracelets off with fumbling, clumsy hands and haphazardly threw them on the sink before going back to her living room.

She turned off the light and momentarily looked out the window to see the faint orange glow of morning already brimming at the horizon.

As Elsa fell back-first into her bed and pulled the blankets up to her chest, everything began to spin. The ceiling and the fan contorted into weird, twisting shapes until it eventually turned into a maelstrom before her eyes and the blonde quickly shut them. Still feeling her heart pound excitedly in her chest, Elsa couldn't quite understand why it had felt so wrong to kiss Jasmine. There was nothing wrong with kissing girls, and it wasn't like she hadn't done it before. But now it had seemed like some invisible power of moral judgement had stopped her.

The blonde began to drift into slumber as she was musing over her thoughts, not being able to connect the faint, short dreams featuring miss Andersen and her sweet little smile with the inability to kiss someone else.

* * *

_No, Jasmine is not based off the Disney princess. Also, over a hundred follows? You guys are insane._


	6. Anna

**In the Arms of Morpheus | Anna**

* * *

Elsa woke up with a start, pulse shooting through the roof and thundering loudly in her ears. Something had just made the loudest noise in the _world_ and it had rudely awakened her from her rather peaceful dream. _Christ, what fucking time is it?_

She looked around to identify the sound, wriggling the covers off of her which had seemingly tried to strangle her in her sleep. Sluggish hands groped the night stand until they closed around the cool metal of her phone. The bright light it emitted nearly seared her eyes out as slid her finger over the touch screen and held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she managed to croak, voice hoarse and raw and sleepy. She finally sat up properly, rubbing her eyes.

"Elsa, it's miss Andersen. I'm just calling you about your test and yo–" the professor on the other side of the call didn't even get to finish her sentence.

The blonde's eyes flew wide open, dispelling all sleep that was still tugging her eyelids down, "Miss Andersen? Holy fuck, how'd you get my phone number?" she shouted into the phone as she bolted out of bed, grabbing the nearest pair of jeans and starting to put them on, nearly falling over as her foot got caught in her trouser leg. She tried to close the zipper but couldn't get a hold of it, looking down to see that she had them inside out.

"God damnit!"

Peeling the skin-tight denim off of her legs, the blonde opted for a skirt instead. It was summer anyway – it was about time she dressed like it.

"Elsa, it's in your file, calm down."

The blonde stumbled all over the place, stubbing her toe against the wheel of her desk chair and she hissed in pain. Jamming the phone in between her shoulder and ear, Elsa sat down on the bed and, now with both hands at the ready, shoved her feet into some socks, "Wait. What time is it?"

A short silence followed, and Elsa could only hear her own pulse drumming away in her ears. She was about to say a short prayer when miss Andersen answered.

"It's three o' clock," the professor's voice buzzed through her cell phone and Elsa's heart leapt in her chest. Her exam was scheduled for nine AM.

"Jesus Christ, I'm sorry – I overslept big time, miss Andersen, I- I didn't mean to."

Racing to the bathroom, Elsa threw a hand through her hair in order to make the dishevelled mess a little more organized – but to no avail. Her heart was still pumping in her chest, both from adrenaline and the intense feeling of dread that was creeping on her in regards to the test. She didn't catch much of what miss Andersen was saying through the phone, only picking up a few words here and there because she was too busy internally reprimanding herself.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it, just calm down for a bit," miss Andersen said in a vain attempt to console the blonde. It didn't have much effect. She ignored her teacher, haphazardly throwing on a shirt that'd been laying on the floor and then hurrying to the front door.

At this moment, Elsa was very glad she didn't have a flight of stairs to run down from – at this speed, she would probably fall. And break something.

She bolted through her tiny hallway, skidding to a halt to jump into her shoes. She bent down to tie her shoelaces only to be met with two different brightly-coloured striped socks staring back at her; one yellow and white, and one purple and black. Elsa groaned loudly, the urge to slam her head into the front door becoming a very real one. Maybe it would even soothe the upcoming headache.

"Elsa, I want you to meet me at the coffee shop across the faculty. No rush, okay? You're already late so take all the time you need."

"Thanks," the blonde sneered dryly, "It's not like I have been hurrying or anything. No big deal, prof."

The blonde only received a chuckle in response before her teacher hung up on her. Elsa sighed, dropping her phone into her bag. She glanced at herself in the mirror; a girl with messy, greasy hair and bright blue eyes gazing at her from above slight purple bags. A girl that still had the lingering scent of alcohol oozing from her pores.

_What a fucking mess, I need a shower. Miss Andersen will wait._

* * *

As Elsa was stomping down the sideway, the slight thumping in her head had developed into a full-blown hangover headache. It throbbed inside her skull with every step she took, but the faster she walked, the sooner she could sit down, have a coffee and pop some painkillers.

She'd planned to take a really long, satisfying shower to wash away the persistent effects of the intoxication of last night, but ended up showering in five minutes. Maybe even less – Elsa would have been proud of herself for saving water if it wasn't for the fact that she'd been plagued with guilt and anxiety.

_Miss Andersen is so kind to tutor you privately – to look at your face and put up with your shit, and you sleep through your test. Fucking hell._

Elsa kept cursing herself in some kind of inner monologue until she had – quite quickly – reached the coffee shop.

Before going in, Elsa threw a quick look at herself in the window of the door, fixing her hair and shirt. She grimaced. _At least I look semi-presentable._

She pushed open the door, triggering the small ring of a bell. The smell of coffee and baked goods wafted in her face, accompanied by the soft murmur of conversation and the clinking of cutlery and glasses. Old wooden floorboards gave way lightly beneath her feet as she walked over to a booth near the window, where Elsa could see the strawberry-coloured hair of her professor peeping out of.

The blonde swung her bag onto the far end of the booth table – yet miss Andersen didn't start. She looked up rather calmly and cocked her head.

"Hi, Elsa," miss Andersen said, smiling with a twinkle in her eyes as she set down her cup, "How'd you sleep?"

The girl in question grunted, plopping down onto the booth couch and resolutely slamming her head into the table. "Like a baby," she murmured into the wood beneath her lips, her voice hoarse and barely audible. She could hear her professor ordering a coffee for her and the level of guilt was about to shoot through the roof.

Elsa lifted her head just in time to see the waiter leave, the brewing machine already rumbling as it ground beans.

"Miss Andersen," she began, her eyebrows furrowing above her icy blue eyes as she repressed a surge of nausea – she couldn't figure out if it was because she was so nervous to face her professor of because she had a massive hangover, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to miss the test, I really didn't."

A small hand waved away the apologies, and miss Andersen smiled, "Elsa, I already told you that it's okay. To be honest, I expected as much."

"Thanks," growled the blonde, "Way to add insult to injury."

"Oh come on, Elsa. I don't mean it like that. There's plenty more of girls and boys just like you and I've learned to anticipate them. Just because it's my second year teaching doesn't mean that I've never dealt with students like you."

Elsa opened her mouth to retort, but then closed it again. She bit her lip and sat back in her seat, nodding knowingly at her professor. _So you're a douche _and_ a selfish bastard, huh? Not everything is about you, you idiot._

"Look, we're just going to have to reschedule your test," the redhead said matter-of-factly, looking at Elsa from above the rim of her glasses as she bent her head to jot it down in her agenda, "You just have to not tell anyone, alright?"

"My my, miss Andy, breaking the rules now, are we?" Elsa replied playfully, ignoring the wave of panic that rushed through her. _What the hell did you just call her?_

Elsa's panic only increased when for a moment she saw her professor's face falter. Miss Andersen quickly regained her composure, but not before being adorned with a blush that spread down her cheeks. She chuckled, "Miss Andy?"

"Yeah, l-like a nickname. Can I call you that?"

The redhead put down her pen and slid her hand across the table, right into Elsa's open one, "You can call me Anna."

If Elsa had been sitting on a chair rather than a couch, she would probably have fallen off. For the second time today her heart leapt up, lodging itself in her throat. She could feel the warmth of Anna's hand spread through her arm and all she could think of was how soft and delicate her skin felt.

"Now," Anna said, retracting her hand, "it's not called breaking the rules if done by authority. Should I order another cup of coffee for you?"

Elsa titled her head and squinted at miss Andersen. How on earth was this distant university teacher transforming into this sweet, kind package of human – to someone she could see as more than a just university teacher. The blonde laughed, placing her chin up on her now folded hands, "Wow, you're quite the rebel."

"Look, you just have to not mention it to anyone. Now, do you want your coffee or not?"

"My lips are sealed, Anna."

* * *

_So, some of you have been asking what the title is about: don't worry, you'll find out. It has to do with the quote above the prologue, and it'll be explained in due time. There were also questions whether Elsa is in university or not. Yes. She is, and I explicitly stated that she is attending Arendelle University. This means that Elsa is around 19/20 years old, and Anna is 23 or 24-ish (I haven't decided yet for the both of them, oops). This brings up the issue of the alcohol consumption of last chapter – why is Elsa drinking when she is not yet 21 years of age? Simple answer: not America._

_Hope that clears things up. Also, sorry for the slow update, I had a 2500 word essay to submit and I'm right in the middle of exams atm._


End file.
